West Berkshire leading the ‘charge’ on electric cars

West Berkshire Council will be installing up to 40 electric car charging points in and around Newbury.

The positive move towards greener travel comes following a successful bid to the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

OLEV has awarded the council £56,450 to start the project. A further £20,000 has been added to the pot from Members Bids in Northcroft and Victoria Wards.

The OLEV funding is specifically for residential roads with no off street parking and areas of East and West Fields in Newbury have been identified as fitting the funding criteria.

Similar residential schemes have installed charge points in lamp columns, which is a potential option for these areas.

The council is now working with electric car charging point market leaders to ensure the most appropriate units are selected. A procurement exercise will be underway shortly to identify the most appropriate solutions and best value for money.

Jeanette Clifford, West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Transport and Countryside said: “This is a really exciting step forward for green travel in West Berkshire. I’d like to thank the Office of Low Emission Vehicles for backing our plans, as well as our officers for putting together another successful bid.

“As the elected representatives of Northcroft and Victoria Wards, Councillors Dennis Benneyworth, Lynne Doherty, James Fredrickson and I are especially pleased that our joint Members’ Bid funding is making a big contribution to this ground-breaking scheme – and, looking to the future, we all hope that lessons from this project in Newbury will help us elsewhere in the District.

“West Berkshire is already heading in the right direction and is currently sitting at 3rd in the South East for new ultra-low emission vehicle purchase. This shows that West Berkshire residents are already keen on greener travel and this funding will help us to provide the support needed to help more residents make this eco-friendly switch should they wish to.”